New Year, New Attitude, New Role: Time to NAME YOUR YEAR

Do you know the difference between Naming Your Year and a New Year’s Resolution? Here I explain how this flexible annual tradition can help you stay focused.

Posted by Shea on February 9, 2021

Feature image credit: Captured By Karlie

“The truth is nobody knows what they want to do with their entire life. Nobody … Having one giant purpose you strive toward forever isn’t the goal.”

Neil Pasricha

Yes, it is February. Some might be saying I have missed the boat and that it is too late to Name Your Year. I mean that is done in January, right?

January is the start of the calendar year, when all the hype is around, when you turn over a new leaf, when conversations around New Year’s Resolutions begin… etc.

Well yes, but that did not work for me.

While I began thinking about my new theme in January, I have only just now made a commitment and put aside time to share it with you guys. The cherubs have returned to school, the household is slowing moving in a more routine type of fashion and I feel ready to embrace what 2021 has to offer.

Yes you read correctly Naming Your Year is a theme, definitely not resolution.

You see Naming Your Year is an annual tradition which I was introduced to around 14 years ago. The significant difference between committing to Naming Your Year, rather than a New Year’s Resolution, is that Naming Your Year is more flexible.

Each year I put pen to paper – well fingers to keyboard – and share the Name Your Year outcomes with the CWMS community. Publishing my intention is a great way to stay accountable 😉. You can read about previous years here, here and here. I have also written a detailed post around the steps I take when searching for that motivational phrase, used as a tool, to keep me focused along the way.

If you are new to the Name Your Year concept, I suggest you read those first.

For everyone here who is familiar with the Name Your Year concept and join with the annual tradition, how was 2020?

WHOOOOA WE DID NOT SEE THAT COMING 😳

When I named 2020 Make It Count I obviously wasn’t thinking ‘pandemic-is-going-to-shut-down-the-world-and-change-life-as-we-know-it’.

Name Your Year Reflection

My ambition with #2020MakeItCount was a type of ‘consolidation’ year. Can you see how ‘Make It Count’ is more inspiring than ‘consolidation’? I talk more about the importance of choosing a motivating phrase here.

How did I get to #2020MakeItCount?

Over the last 14 years, we have ticked off some pretty big life-changing goals such as buying, renovating and selling houses, having a family, moving to the other side of the country #2015LessisMore, relocating to the Middle East #2016OneDayIsToday, returning to Australia #2018Rediscover and enrolling in university #2019You’veGotThis.

There was also #2017ToJustBe when everything did not go according to plan and we, as a family, had to do a huge pivot.

Each annual theme definitely rolls into the next as the idea is to take the lessons learnt and use them to move forward. The new year is not about forgetting past experiences, it is about building on them. Hence #2020MakeItCount. The intention was to take a moment to give credit to all those experiences, lessons, new skills etc, tie off any loose ends – so to speak – and move consciously forward into a new chapter.

New chapter indeed!

In regard to the pandemic, we class ourselves as crazy lucky here in Australia. Life during the pandemic was nothing like what other less fortunate countries endured, especially for us here in Brisbane. Today’s post isn’t about COVID however, an important part of the process involved with Naming Your Year is reflection and my 2020 reflection can be summed up in five key points.

We invited my Mum to come and stay with us during lockdown
I started documenting what I was grateful for – Gratitude Cards archived here.
Exercise became a priority
My garden plans became a reality
Started a new job role

Can you see how the theme Make It Count influenced me during these last 12 months?

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A post shared by Green Heart🌏Wanderlust Spirit (@conversationswithmysister)

2021 Name Your Year Theme

The first hint of my new 2021 direction came when reading the book called – IKIGAI: The Japanese secret to a life of happiness and longevity.

Everything that was going on in my head was answered, or can be summed up in this quote, which I came across when I opened the book:

There is an interesting modern-day phenomenon around what success actually looks like. Success seems to be portrayed through bigger flashier ‘everythings’ and the throwing around of that infamous word ‘busy’. Whilst I have enjoyed some big-ticket, life-changing events over the last few years that isn’t what I am searching for right now. Perhaps that is something we have all learnt from COVID…

“This is not the year to get everything you want. This is the year to appreciate everything you have.”

Head over to the CWMS Pinterest account to read some of my favourite quotes saved over the last 12 months.

So, this year I have read and I have read. And finally came across clarity in what I am looking for in 2021:

#2021KaizenApproach

Kaizen translates to ‘good change’.

There is one particular article in which these three points stood out to me:

Think of it as an antidote to every “go big or go home” motivational trope you’ve seen in your newsfeed.
Less about hustle and working more, and more about thoughtful adjustments, accepting failure and applying learnings in order to work better.
Put simply, the Kaizen approach is based on the belief that continuous, incremental improvement adds up to substantial change over time.

You can read the full article here.

And so it begins…

One of the biggest challenges I have to tackle this year is returning to work full time.

After graduating from Bond University with a Sustainable Environments & Planning qualification, completing my internship at Ecotourism Australia (EA), then returning to EA to complete a three-month project, I have been offered a full-time role.

Time to put that Kaizen Philosophy to work – I have a lot to learn!